"Realistic" settings, medieval but not necessarily

[Emotional Vampire]

40k did it pretty well. It combines a) rarity, thought it's a bit relative since IoM owns close to a million planets; b) Innate danger of being born as a Psyker - yeah, you don't even need to cast any spells, just the fact you are a Psyker means daemons are after your ass; and c) Combines the availability of "magic" with realpolitik.

The last one is most important and I don't think anyone mentioned it yet. GarfunkeL made a very nice post about daily uses of magic, but even in DnD magic is relatively rare - it takes years of study to be able to cast even simplest of spells, and there's a reason why most powerful mages are usually very old. The magic is kind of "given" in DnD because the characters are expected to be heroes way above average human(that's why you roll your stats and not just start with all 9s and 10s) and the very fact that they're "adventurers" will make them face magic, mages, magical creatures and magical items constantly. "Normal" denizens of DnD - at least the Forgotten Realms - don't trip over magical swords and visit ancient ruins daily. Not to mention the mages in DnD are also gimped because of the spell memorizing system.

Anyway, where was I. While only select few in DnD are mages, some of them still wield considerable power and even a low-level mage can mess shit up pretty badly(like beforementioned Sleep spell). And yet they are usually completely ignored by everyone and just sit in their towers doing "research". Sorry, but no ruler in history of civilization would ever allow anyone with any magical power just sit in their tower and do "research" when they can throw fireballs, fly, charm, turn invisible, precognite, etc. Mages' would be INVALUABLE ANYTHING - from spies to diplomats to siege machines - and those refusing to cooperate would be swiftly taken care of as dangerous random factors. Then Government-funded magical academies would be made and you can see where I'm going with this.

And that's how it goes in 40k. When you're a Psyker you are either killer in more or less interesting way or you serve the Imperium. Sometimes both, actually.

 

[alkeides]

Anyway, where was I. While only select few in DnD are mages, some of them still wield considerable power and even a low-level mage can mess shit up pretty badly(like beforementioned Sleep spell). And yet they are usually completely ignored by everyone and just sit in their towers doing "research". Sorry, but no ruler in history of civilization would ever allow anyone with any magical power just sit in their tower and do "research" when they can throw fireballs, fly, charm, turn invisible, precognite, etc. Mages' would be INVALUABLE ANYTHING - from spies to diplomats to siege machines - and those refusing to cooperate would be swiftly taken care of as dangerous random factors. Then Government-funded magical academies would be made and you can see where I'm going with this.

Assuming a political situation similar to that of mediaeval Europe though, I doubt individual rulers have enough control over a single city-state or a fiefdom to regulate all the magic-users in their land. Moreover, they would probably be unable to devote their resources to identifying every little hedge-wizard or witch who may or may not actually have magic. Younger wizards or wizards-in-training might not be worth their bother either and what would serve them the most would be experienced mages who however could likely hide themselves. Those younger wizard apprentices would be paired with older wizards who could shield them too.

One way to implement real life magic in a fairly realistic setting would be making magic a long-term quest - to gather all the materials for an evocation for example and being able to ask the demon/angel you have summoned for some help. The ideal real world era for this IMO would be late Renaissance to the mid-18th Century, when magic was still taken seriously by a substantial portion of the educated classes.

 

[Severian Silk]

Don't care about the setting as long as the RPG is good.

 

[laclongquan]

Wrong! If the rulers doesnt have enough resources to hire effective magic master, then investing in inexperienced journeymen or apprentices is the way to go. The simplest of spells could be a great force modifiers or of great utility in everyday' s use.

A modern poor 3rd world country that cant afford to invest in top of the line machinery wont refuse to invest in secondhanded or outdated stuffs.